Delphi IPO: Shares fell 3 percent on first day

Delphi Automotive PLC went public yesterday – Thursday, but shares fell at the end of the day to $21.33, down 3%. The automotive parts company failed to gain traction with investors during its debut Thursday.

Up to 24.1 million shares, or 7% of its outstanding shares, were offered, but only 14 million shares traded Thursday. However, the Troy Company raised nearly $530 million in its initial public stock offering.

“The mere fact that Paulson only sold a portion of his stock is a prelude to the fact he wants out of Delphi,” said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of the IPO Boutique, a Florida-based firm that follows the IPO market.

Most of the stock — 20.6 million shares — were sold by Delphi’s largest private equity owner, Paulson & Co., which held a 22 percent stake in Delphi before the IPO.

Delphi Automotive, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 and is run by CEO Rodney O’Neal, returned to profitability last year after cutting costs and focusing on selling fuel-injection systems and other car parts in faster-growing countries such as China.

Delphi is one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers and has approximately 146,600 employees (18,900 in the United States).